Our view: Use county money differently to use it most effectively

Oct. 14, 2013

One initiative on the November ballot isn’t getting as much attention as some of the higher profile issues voters will decide this fall. Perhaps that’s because this ballot item doesn’t call for a new tax or seek to ban anything or legalize anything new. Nonetheless, it does involve the management of taxpayer money.

Issue 1A asks Larimer County voters to allow the county to use tax money that has already been collected to build a new county offices building to replace the one that now sits at East Sixth Street and Cleveland Avenue in Loveland.

To understand why it’s on the ballot, rewind to 1997, when voters approved a 0.2 percent sales tax to fund renovations or expansion of six county buildings: the justice center and courthouse office buildings in Fort Collins; the Civic Center parking structure in Fort Collins; the sheriff's administration building; the police and courts building in Loveland; and the county offices building in Loveland. The county collected more than $97 million using the tax, and it expired six months early in 2012 because all of the projects had been funded.

But the ballot measure did not specify the tax money could be used to build an entirely new structure, and the county needs to ask taxpayers to approve use of the money for that purpose.

For years, commissioners have been wondering how long to keep investing money in a building that increasingly doesn’t meet the county’s needs. They believe the most responsible use of the remaining money — $8.7 million — would be to build a new office building in downtown Loveland rather than renovate the 45-year-old former library that tightly houses offices for the motor vehicle, elections, recording, human services, health services and youth probation departments.

If you’re there on a busy day, you might see people sitting, not just on chairs but overflowing onto a staircase while they wait their turn to be helped. There’s no designated parking. Safety concerns include the need to secure the part of the building that houses the youth probation office. And the county is paying $80,000 per year for rent and utilities at off-site space for the Loveland branch of the Larimer County Workforce Center.

(Page 2 of 2)

The Loveland building’s infrastructure doesn’t easily or safely support the wired world we’ve become, commissioners and county managers say. Energy costs are 25 percent higher than they would be for a new building, and maintaining the old building and its out-of-date parts is extra costly.

A new larger building, almost double the current building’s size, would be built somewhere in downtown Loveland. It would merge the workforce center and the offices into a one-stop shop and is estimated to cost about $12 million. The $4 million gap between current funding and the total cost would come from the general fund and be offset by the savings from lower maintenance costs and not having to pay to house the workforce center off-site.

If this scenario sounds familiar, it has a precedent. In 2000, voters, by a 60-to-40 margin, allowed the county to use money collected via the sales tax to build a new county courthouse building in Fort Collins instead of renovate the existing building. That ballot measure came about after county officials determined the cost of rebuilding matched the cost of renovation.

With about $100 million in looming flood recovery costs, now is not exactly the right time to be getting out the shovels. Rebuilding roads and infrastructure takes higher priority, and commissioners are focusing on that. However, the building doesn’t have to be replaced right away, and approving the funds for a different use now will allow commissioners to act later, when the time is right.

We support Issue 1A. It’s the smartest use of the remaining $8.7 million, and if voters don’t pass it, we’ll be pouring millions of dollars into a building whose limitations are quickly draining our funds.